When Maryanne and I came to NE Ohio 24 years ago, I called a friend from my past who had moved to Cleveland. He had been on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ while I was at Vanderbilt in Nashville. In Cleveland, he was with Athletes in Action and worked with the Browns, the Cavs, and the Indians. I asked him, “What is the spiritual climate in Cleveland? He said, “Most pastors are defeated, depressed, and discouraged.”
Sounds kind of like a valley of dead, dry bones.
Somewhere, I had learned that when you are facing desolate times, it’s a good idea to find promises from God’s Word and to claim them. So, I did. And I still have a list of promises that I claimed from God’s Word back in 1986. And claiming those promises helped keep me going in a climate where most pastors were defeated, depressed, and discouraged.
Question: What is dead and dry in your life? And do you know how to access and claim the promises of God in your desolate times?
In week 1 of this series, Breath of God, we asked ourselves a question, “What’s dead in your life? Where was there once life and passion and vitality and there is now dryness? Is it in your heart, your home, your career, your ministry, your church?
This passage tells us that it is possible for people who were once alive to be like dead, dried, and divided bones. Every particle of marrow is gone.
Maybe your walk with Jesus is not as passionate as it once was. Maybe your marriage is not as vibrant as it used to be and you are wondering why you ever married him? Maybe your kids were once open to spiritual truth, but now they are running hard from God. Maybe you once felt called to serve Jesus as a minister or as a missionary, but you’ve shoved that call into a dark corner of your heart. Maybe your time in the word and in prayer was exciting, but now it’s a chore.
Your extremity is God’s opportunity. There is hope. The resurrection of Jesus means that what’s dead can live. With God, all things are possible. God is “the God of hope.” Are you dreaming? Or are you simply resigned to what is? Or bitter about what isn’t? Here in Cleveland I think we are just used to things. "Well, that's just our family, that’s just church, that’s just Cleveland." And we don't dare to dream about what could be.
Maybe your problem is that you don't really believe. So, you can't see ahead to a brighter future. Instead, you just focus on your past defeats, our past failures. So, you don't dare to dream about a brighter future. Instead, you live in the darkness. You live in the deadness with the pain of the past. But when you read the Bible, you can see that God sees something better. He encourages you to dream.
Ezekiel was a spiritual leader, a prophet. A prophet is someone who speaks God’s Word to God’s people. Ezekiel lived about 600 years before the time of Christ. When the nation of Israel was in its infancy, the people had been told by God, “If you obey, you’ll be blessed. If you disobey and follow after other gods, you’ll be cursed. You’ll lose your land. You’ll be carried away to serve another country.”
And that’s what happened. Because they followed after other gods, the Lord lifted His hand of protection and the nation was overrun by the Babylonians. The Jews were forced from their home and taken to the land we now know as Iraq. They were a people who were oppressed. Their situation looked hopeless.
Last week, Pastor Chad encouraged us to be grieving – to think about what’s dry and dead in our lives, families, church, community, nation, and world.
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. Ezekiel 37:1-2
How? How does He bring the dead to life?
Chad taught us to pray, “Lord, help me to be broken over what’s broken.” And when that brokenness really happens, he said, “Tears will fall and knees will bend.” I hope you’ve been praying and seeking that grieving, that brokenness. “Lord, help me to be broken over what’s broken.”
But we’ll not find life if all we do is the “grieving.” To the grieving we had to add “dreaming.” And that’s what Ezekiel was encouraged to do in verse 3.
3 And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know."
Now, what does God know? He knows everything, of course. So, in reality He’s wanting us to reflect on what He knows. Think about the context. I think perhaps He wants us to know what He just said in chapter 36. And He wants us to know what He’s going to say in the rest of chapter 37. As I look at the context – at what comes before and after the vision of the valley of dry bones – I am struck by all the promises that God makes.
We have to remember that these promises were made to a specific nation, to Israel. Most Bible scholars would say that there is an “already, but not yet” nature to these promises. These promises were fulfilled in the past when the people returned from Babylon to their homeland. That’s the “already” nature of these promises.
But there’s more to come. One day, the people of God – the Jews – will see the Lord fulfill these promises fully and finally. That’s the “not yet” nature of these promises. In fact, some say that God began the final process of fulfilling these promises when the Jews returned to their homeland – when Israel became a modern-day nation – in 1948. So, these promises have yet to be fully fulfilled for Israel.
So, for Israel, there is an “already, but not yet” nature to these promises.
But what about us? Can we claim these promises, too? Well, Galatians 6:16 calls the Church, “the Israel of God.” We are all, spiritually speaking, the Israel of God. It’s appropriate for us to remember that these promises are for the nation of Israel. But we say, “You already did this in part in the past for Your people, the Jews. And You will do it more fully, more completely in the future for Your people, the Jews. But, Lord, we, too, are Your people. We are the Church. We are ‘the Israel of God.’ So, would you do this for us, too? We claim these promises. We dare to dream.”
Now, what can we dare to dream? We dream according to the promises of God.
Now, let me give you a little help in accessing the promises of God. Look for the places where God says, “I will” or “you shall” or “they shall.” From Ezekiel 36:22-Ezekiel 37, there are over 60 promises of God – over 60 “I wills” and “you shalls” and “they wills.”
Yes. We may be like dried bones, good for nothing. But the Lord comes and says, “I will, I will.” He promises life.
So, we can dream. Our dreams must be birthed out of God’s promises so that His promises become fuel for our prayers.
Sounds kind of like a valley of dead, dry bones.
Somewhere, I had learned that when you are facing desolate times, it’s a good idea to find promises from God’s Word and to claim them. So, I did. And I still have a list of promises that I claimed from God’s Word back in 1986. And claiming those promises helped keep me going in a climate where most pastors were defeated, depressed, and discouraged.
Question: What is dead and dry in your life? And do you know how to access and claim the promises of God in your desolate times?
In week 1 of this series, Breath of God, we asked ourselves a question, “What’s dead in your life? Where was there once life and passion and vitality and there is now dryness? Is it in your heart, your home, your career, your ministry, your church?
This passage tells us that it is possible for people who were once alive to be like dead, dried, and divided bones. Every particle of marrow is gone.
Maybe your walk with Jesus is not as passionate as it once was. Maybe your marriage is not as vibrant as it used to be and you are wondering why you ever married him? Maybe your kids were once open to spiritual truth, but now they are running hard from God. Maybe you once felt called to serve Jesus as a minister or as a missionary, but you’ve shoved that call into a dark corner of your heart. Maybe your time in the word and in prayer was exciting, but now it’s a chore.
Your extremity is God’s opportunity. There is hope. The resurrection of Jesus means that what’s dead can live. With God, all things are possible. God is “the God of hope.” Are you dreaming? Or are you simply resigned to what is? Or bitter about what isn’t? Here in Cleveland I think we are just used to things. "Well, that's just our family, that’s just church, that’s just Cleveland." And we don't dare to dream about what could be.
Maybe your problem is that you don't really believe. So, you can't see ahead to a brighter future. Instead, you just focus on your past defeats, our past failures. So, you don't dare to dream about a brighter future. Instead, you live in the darkness. You live in the deadness with the pain of the past. But when you read the Bible, you can see that God sees something better. He encourages you to dream.
Ezekiel was a spiritual leader, a prophet. A prophet is someone who speaks God’s Word to God’s people. Ezekiel lived about 600 years before the time of Christ. When the nation of Israel was in its infancy, the people had been told by God, “If you obey, you’ll be blessed. If you disobey and follow after other gods, you’ll be cursed. You’ll lose your land. You’ll be carried away to serve another country.”
And that’s what happened. Because they followed after other gods, the Lord lifted His hand of protection and the nation was overrun by the Babylonians. The Jews were forced from their home and taken to the land we now know as Iraq. They were a people who were oppressed. Their situation looked hopeless.
Last week, Pastor Chad encouraged us to be grieving – to think about what’s dry and dead in our lives, families, church, community, nation, and world.
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. Ezekiel 37:1-2
How? How does He bring the dead to life?
Chad taught us to pray, “Lord, help me to be broken over what’s broken.” And when that brokenness really happens, he said, “Tears will fall and knees will bend.” I hope you’ve been praying and seeking that grieving, that brokenness. “Lord, help me to be broken over what’s broken.”
But we’ll not find life if all we do is the “grieving.” To the grieving we had to add “dreaming.” And that’s what Ezekiel was encouraged to do in verse 3.
3 And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know."
Now, what does God know? He knows everything, of course. So, in reality He’s wanting us to reflect on what He knows. Think about the context. I think perhaps He wants us to know what He just said in chapter 36. And He wants us to know what He’s going to say in the rest of chapter 37. As I look at the context – at what comes before and after the vision of the valley of dry bones – I am struck by all the promises that God makes.
We have to remember that these promises were made to a specific nation, to Israel. Most Bible scholars would say that there is an “already, but not yet” nature to these promises. These promises were fulfilled in the past when the people returned from Babylon to their homeland. That’s the “already” nature of these promises.
But there’s more to come. One day, the people of God – the Jews – will see the Lord fulfill these promises fully and finally. That’s the “not yet” nature of these promises. In fact, some say that God began the final process of fulfilling these promises when the Jews returned to their homeland – when Israel became a modern-day nation – in 1948. So, these promises have yet to be fully fulfilled for Israel.
So, for Israel, there is an “already, but not yet” nature to these promises.
But what about us? Can we claim these promises, too? Well, Galatians 6:16 calls the Church, “the Israel of God.” We are all, spiritually speaking, the Israel of God. It’s appropriate for us to remember that these promises are for the nation of Israel. But we say, “You already did this in part in the past for Your people, the Jews. And You will do it more fully, more completely in the future for Your people, the Jews. But, Lord, we, too, are Your people. We are the Church. We are ‘the Israel of God.’ So, would you do this for us, too? We claim these promises. We dare to dream.”
Now, what can we dare to dream? We dream according to the promises of God.
Now, let me give you a little help in accessing the promises of God. Look for the places where God says, “I will” or “you shall” or “they shall.” From Ezekiel 36:22-Ezekiel 37, there are over 60 promises of God – over 60 “I wills” and “you shalls” and “they wills.”
Yes. We may be like dried bones, good for nothing. But the Lord comes and says, “I will, I will.” He promises life.
So, we can dream. Our dreams must be birthed out of God’s promises so that His promises become fuel for our prayers.
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